2013, 03-07 Article "Golf Course Could be Sold but Future Unknown after Bankruptcy"Golf course could be sold but future unk vn after bankruptcy - Spokesman.com
[arch 7, 2013 Page 1 of 2
T%E SPO►KESM INI -REVIEW March 7, 2013
Golf course could be sold but future unknown
after bankruptcy
Painted Hills' Chapter 7 filing lists debts of $1.4 million
Nina Culver
The Spokesman -Review
Tags: bankruptcy John McElhinny Linda McElhinny Painted Hills Golf Course Spokane Valley Tim McElhinny
Golf carts at Painted Hills Golf Course
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business," he said.
The future of the Painted Hills Golf Course is up in the
air after owners filed for bankruptcy.
IWILL70 Properties LLC, run by Linda and John
McElhinny, listed $1.4 million in debts in its Chapter 7
bankruptcy petition filed in August. Most of that debt is
$1.3 million owed to American West Bank and the Small
Business Association for loans used to purchase the
golf course in 2006.
McFore Inc., another company tied to the course and
run by four members of the McElhinny family, petitioned
for bankruptcy at the same time.
Former Painted Hills golf pro Tim McElhinny and his
wife, Bonnie, also filed for personal bankruptcy last
year, listing debts of $1.7 million. Tim McElhinny, who
now works in Texas, said he quit his job last fall and
doesn't know the current financial situation of the golf
course. "We really struggled as a family-owned
He referred further questions to his father, John McElhinny, who declined to comment
through his attorney, Timothy Fischer.
"We are considering all possibilities right now, including sale of the golf course," Fischer
said. "We do have interested buyers."
Fischer said the owners would prefer that the new buyer continue to operate the property
as a golf course, but there are no guarantees.
http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2013/mar/07/painted-hills-golf-course-in-bankruptcy/?print-friendly 3/7/2013
Golf course could be sold but future unkrvn after bankruptcy - Spokesman.com 'arch 7, 2013 Page 2 of 2
Chester Creek has regularly flooded a portion of the golf course and Thorpe Road in the
spring. In 1999 Spokane County dredged the creek hoping to alleviate the problem.
Flooding in 2010 temporarily shut down a small par -3 course next to the main nine -hole
golf course, said Spokane Valley stormwater engineer Art Jenkins.
Construction of the golf course, which opened in 1989, clogged existing culverts under the
road, Jenkins said. Making those functional again would have required eliminating one of
the course's parking lots.
Instead, the city of Spokane Valley in 2011 installed several culverts under Thorpe Road
in a different location to keep the road from washing out. The water flowing through the
culverts was directed into a swale next to the golf course.
"It was re-establishing a historic floodway," Jenkins said. "The golf course is part of the
Chester Creek flood plain."
Water flooded onto the golf course anyway, Jenkins said.
"We worked out a solution where we worked with the property owners," he said. "That was
an effort to be realistic about flooding out there."
The McElhinnys originally wanted the water piped back to the creek, but the city realized
that wasn't going to work largely because of elevation changes, Jenkins said.
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